Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Charlie had never imagined he could feel so much joy and take so much pride in owning his own little English cottage in a town about an hour's train ride from London. Not so long ago, Charlie had wondered how he would ever recover from previous break ups. Not so long ago, he laid awake most nights overcome with anxiety, wondering if his mental health would ever recover enough for him to get his life on a proper path. He used to wonder if he would ever reach a point where it didn’t feel as though he was struggling to survive through every day.  But then, somewhere along the way, he started working toward the goal of this home, working to achieve the type of control that owning his own space allowed.  And now, though it felt it’d taken an entire lifetime, he’d found his own path to a semblance of peace.  Each day passed with an ease he had never known, and Charlie relished it. Charlie looked out on his very English garden, from the back window of his small cottage, and admired the many types of flowers foliage that he had planted there. He breathed the air in, and it felt fucking luxurious.

Charlie had come to enjoy his regular nights in. He wasn’t currently dating anyone, instead enjoying the company of his dog, Lilith- a sweet boxer mix.  Since he had adopted her, he hadn’t known a quiet moment, but he also hadn’t known a lonely moment either. Lilith was playful, extremely cuddly, and a little mischievous. She often stole food off of Charlie’s plate while he wasn’t looking. It happened during many meal times that Charlie would get up from the table to get some water, returning to the table to find his plate full of food to be suddenly empty.  Sometimes when she was feeling especially brazen, she would go for the plate even when Charlie was still at the table, having just turned his head then looking back to find her open mouth poised over his plate.  Charlie had found no real remedy to this issue, though truthfully he hadn’t looked very hard, because somehow knowing Lilith might take his food from him, made eating a little easier. He no longer had time to let his thoughts overwhelm him, when it was time to eat, he had to focus on putting the food in his mouth before Lilith got a chance to take it.

Long gone were the days that Charlie couldn't bring himself to eat anything at all, still it wasn’t uncommon for the anxiety to make sudden reappearances. But since Lilith had entered his life, he found bad mental health days to be few and far between. Even as mischievous as she was, she knew better than to dig in Charlie's flower beds, which he was eternally grateful for; because looking out his back window to see the flowers bloom in Spring was one of his favorite things. Gardening had become such a large part of his life.

The village that housed his cozy cottage was quiet, the most notable excitement in the recent past being a new neighbor moving in next door. Charlie noticed the removal van, and the flurry of activity next door, but hadn't thought much of it. Once the removal van left, and the neighbor settled in, his home was back to normal. Mostly, Charlie enjoyed the quiet of his cul-de-sac. A little over a week after the new neighbor moved in, Charlie was sitting in his back garden, enjoying a cup of tea, when he noticed that some of his gorgeous hydrangeas had been upturned, the stems trampled, the roots upended, the petals missing. Charlie set his mug on the ground and rushed over to the bed of flowers as if he could perform CPR and save them if he reached them quickly enough. But as he approached the crime scene, it only became increasingly clear that it was no use, they were destroyed. Charlie sat next to the flowers he had lovingly planted and cared for and mourned the loss of their beautiful purple blooms. He looked around quickly, standing suddenly as if he might find the culprit. He resolved to purchase some potted flowers to replace them, but he couldn’t deny the loss stung. 

The next day, he found his tulip bed had met the same fate, the bulbs had been dug out and destroyed. Charlie let out a low growl when he noticed the disheveled flower beds, a pit in his stomach. He couldn’t imagine it was any of the local wildlife. The way the flowerbeds had been completely upturned, it looked exactly like a dog had been digging in it. He knew it wasn't Lilith. Not only would Lilith the angel dog never do such a thing, but she was with him constantly, and he always supervised her when she was in the back garden.

A couple of days later, Charlie was doing the dishes when he looked out his back window and jumped in alarm at the sight of a dog in his garden, a beautiful border collie covered in dirt, actively digging in his daffodils’ bed. Charlie dropped the dishes he was washing and ran outside to the garden, menacingly waving a tea towel.

“Hey! You! Dog! Piss off!!! Get the fuck away from my flowers!!!!” Charlie yelled at the dog, throwing the dish towel at it as it scurried away through the back gate toward the new neighbor's home. Charlie peeked around the fence and saw the dog sitting in the neighbor's porch, lazily rolling on its back as if it had not just committed an actual crime. Literally murdered his daffodil bed, they would no longer bloom in the early spring. Charlie huffed as he saw the neighbor open the door to let the criminal inside. He couldn't see the concealed figure from his vantage point, but heard a “Nellieeee sweet girl what did you get into??” coming from the front door.

“Ah... Nellie .” Charlie whispered aloud then turned to Lilith who was sweetly wagging her tail next to him. “The audacity! You would never do something like that. Because you are an actual law abiding sweet girl!” Charlie humphed and motioned for Lilith to follow him back inside. Which, she of course did not. Instead, she looked ready to bolt to the neighbor's house. “Lilith!” Charlie whispered angrily, but Lilith did not follow, barking at him instead and stomping her feet. “Lilith….'' Charlie said in a warning tone. He knew that mischievous look in her eye: it meant she was about to take the fuck off, and force him to chase her. Her favorite game. She jumped in the air, and pounced forward before sprinting off, the same way that 'Nellie' had gone. Charlie ran after her, frustrated because he should have known better than to let her out here with the gate open. By the time he rounded the corner out of the gate, Lilith was already prancing in the neighbor's porch. Charlie walked quickly over to her, and before he could move to grab her collar to drag her back home, the door was opening.

“Oh,” Charlie heard someone say.

Charlie sighed. He did not want to do this right now. He was crouched down next to Lilith and saw a pair of Vans in his vision. Without looking up, Charlie said, “Look, I'm sorry she got away from me. But actually…we need to talk. Your dog has been digging up my flowers. And it is not okay! Do you know how much time and energy goes into caring for them? Just for your dog to murder them because you don't know how to keep her on a lead?” Charlie said quickly, with heat.

“Oh, I'm so sorry, I had no idea, I-” and then Charlie looked up, and the neighbor stopped mid-sentence as he did so. And Charlie stopped mid-rage. He was tall, handsome, and looked to be around his same age. He had the most beautiful brown golden retriever eyes Charlie had ever seen. They both paused as Charlie rose to his full height and they maintained eye contact.

“Hi.” Charlie broke the silence.

“Hi.” the neighbor responded with a crooked smile.

“I'm sorry...I can be a little overprotective...of my garden” Charlie said, ignoring his own drastic shift in tone.

“No sorries. I get it, in fact, I think we may both have little psychopaths living in our homes, I caught yours in the midst of a peony assassination attempt.” Charlie gasped, but couldn't hide the smile....he may like to pretend that was out of character for Lilith...but it really, really was not. When Charlie was actually honest with himself, he had actually been continually shocked she never dug up his flowers… come to find out, she had been out terrorizing the neighbors like a good girl.

“Well, I would say we were even, but there's been a massacre in my garden,” Charlie responded.

“Well, maybe I could make it up to you,” the man said with a sly smile.

“I mean...you could try. ” Charlie was blushing.

“Hm....I think I'd like to start over then, yeah?” The neighbor said, smiling widely, “This is Nellie,” he said, gesturing to Nellie sitting beside him in the doorway. “And who is this killer?”

Charlie laughed softly. “This is Lilith.”

“Like the demon?  Fitting name,” the neighbor teased.  As if she wanted to make an impression, Lilith moved toward Nellie. Charlie was a little nervous, as Lilith was a bit protective of him. However, she quickly began licking the inside of Nellie's mouth. Nellie recoiled and pointed her nose upward trying to escape the aggressive greeting.

“Fast friends.” The neighbor laughed again.

“Well, common interests and all,” Charlie suggested with a shrug.

“I guess we have that too. Do you like Tulips uh… mister…?” the neighbor asked, gesturing toward Charlie as if to ask his name.

“Oh...I guess we did that thing that dog dads do...introduced our dogs, but not ourselves.” he laughed again. “Charlie. Call me Charlie,” he finished and stuck out his hand toward his neighbor.

“Nick,” Nick said, taking Charlie's hand. They grabbed each other's hands soft and firm, and the grip lingered as they both looked into each other's eyes again. And Charlie felt it – an undeniable spark. Electricity coursing through him even after his hand left Nick's. Charlie broke the gaze to look at Lilith and Nellie, who were still engaging in whatever the dog version was of this awkward initial spark. “Do you....uh would you like some tea?” Nick asked with a smile, gesturing for Charlie to come into his house.

“Um. Yeah, I really would.”

Lilith had already changed his life in so many ways. What was one more welcomed change?  In this moment, everything felt so full of possibility.

Charlie felt it then, was so sure he felt something but didn't know how to put into words – whatever he had just found.

Years later, when he and Nick reflected on that day, they would agree that they both felt the spark. They often reflected on how they had torn down their fences only months later, so that they could adjoin their gardens, on how quickly Lilith and Nellie had become inseparable. The same way Nick and Charlie had, how they had both known in that moment, that they felt something so clear and yet so undefined. That it felt like it was possible for their lives to change. Charlie admitted to not knowing where it would lead, but managing to find the best outcome regardless. They had been on parallel journeys, finding each other at the exact right time.

Years and years later, a much older Lilith and Nellie – tired and content in their old age – were cuddled together next to Nick and Charlie, who had taken to tending to the garden and the flower beds together, every day. Charlie looked at his girls, and the love of his life, and thought about how they had all worked together to be here. Nick in his gardening gloves and a floppy sun hat. Charlie was overwhelmed with how much he loved all three of them as he leaned over and kissed Nick on the cheek.

“What's that for?” Nick asked with a wide smile.

“Replanting the Hydrangeas,” Charlie said with a wink.

“Always,” Nick said sincerely.

“I just...never thought this would be my life. So many things I love around me everyday. I'm so grateful I found you. What if Nellie had never dug up my daffodils? We might have never...” Charlie said, suddenly visibly emotional. Nick smiled, looking into Charlie's eyes with sincerity. His heart was full of gratitude for the sweet little flower-murdering psychopaths that brought them together.

“Char…” Nick paused, laughing softly and set down the bulbs he was holding, “I like to think Nellie would find a way to kill your flowers in any universe.”

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